Entrepreneurs: you should be playing these 6 video games

It may be strange to think of gaming and entrepreneurship going hand-in-hand — unless you own a video game startup — but the two are a perfect match. They actually hold a lot more in common that meets the eye.

Besides the benefits of teaching players patience, hand-eye-coordination, and being able to let off a bit of steam, video games can benefit entrepreneurs in a number of ways.

Here are 6 videos games every entrepreneur should be playing:

SimCity 2000

The SimCity franchise is not only a management and simulation title, but a no-brainier on this list. While I could have chosen from any of the numerous SimCity titles, it’s 2000 that really is the best entry in the series.

SimCity is great at teaching players about profit, loss, and random UFO attacks disasters that can ruin the thing you build. It’s also about keeping our citizens (read: customers) safe, happy, and giving you money.

Read more: 18 SA gaming startups you should know about [Digital All Stars]

Animal Crossing

You may be mesmerized by the glamour of working for yourself, changing the world, and employing others but there’s an incredible mundaneness to it. Unlike many TV shows and movies the glorify entrepreneurship, it’s not sleeping in bed until 12pm, sitting in coffee shops, and just chilling.

There’s no better game to teach you about the passage of time than Animal Crossing. You’re made the mayor of a small town, but there’s a lot of upkeep and debt to handle. You work to pay off your house, rid the town of weeds, and keep up relationships daily. And if you’re not always on the ball, characters will comment on this and deteriorate your progress.

Oh, and make sure you pay off Tom Nook as fast as possible. He’s basically Animal Crossing‘s version of a bank manager.

Dark Souls

As I’ve written before, it’s okay to fail. The Dark Souls games are punishing, brutal, and absolutely unforgiving in every sense of the world. You cannot rush in headlong into unknown territory and expect to come out of it alive.

In the world of Dark Souls, players need to be cautious and learn from their mistakes in order to progress. There’s a lot of trial and error, but for those who do overcome, the rewards and sense of achievement is unparalleled. You’d be forgiven for wanting to throw your controller out of window, but isn’t that life?

Read more: RetroEpic Software talks us through growing a game studio in SA

Portal franchise

Someone may already have created a product you want to market, or your desired industry may already be full of other startups. You’ll need to think differently, laterally in order to make sure you stand out from a crowd.

A non-traditional first person game, the Portal video games (it’s difficult to choose one), force you to think about getting out of tough situations and think on your feet. Its unique mechanics make it stand above the rest, and may even help you as well.

World of WarCraft

A biggest, most successful online MMORPG of all time, there’s more for entrepreneurs here than meets the eye. Sure, you’ll be completing quests, fighting off monsters, and smithing all sorts of new items, but the game’s guilds and in-game market are where it’s at for entrepreneurs.

Guilds are bands of people who’ve teamed together to form a club, complete quests, share gold, and generally give the game a better feel and balance to it. Starting and managing a guild is the same as starting and running a business. You’ll need to find the right player/employees and make sure everything runs smoothly on a day to day basis.

WoW‘s own in-game market has players selling their wares in auction houses for tidy profits, which is a great way of accumulating wealth within the game. This retail aspect has players gauging supply and demand of rare items and general resources.

Read more: Cracking the nut: An indie game startup’s mission to balance passion and profit

Minecraft

And, finally, we come to Minecraft. This entry is special in not only its mechanics, but the business aspect around the title.

Creator (Notch) sold parent company, Mojanh, for a cool US$2.5-billion to Microsoft back in 2014. If that’s not inspiration to create an excitable product, then I don’t know what is.

When it comes to gameplay, Minecraft not only teaches players to keep their wits about them, but that they have to create something from nothing. In the game’s Survival mode — which is at the heart of this title — players are plonked into the middle of an uncharted world with no resources at all. You have to chop down trees with your bare hands to make tools, create a shelter, and survive the things that lurk in this new world. Even after making it through your first horrifying night, you need to build a permanent residence, explore, gather resources, and find food.

In entrepreneurship, you too have to build a company or product from absolutely nothing. You need to explore the business world, build contacts, and find a viable way to pay the bills. It’s scary charting the world with little to no income.

Read more: Entrepreneurs, want a high-funded crowdsourced product? Make a board game

And that’s it. What other games would you suggest for entrepreneurs? Let us know in the comments below.